Athletics World Championships Finale: Uganda Rises, Yang Shaohui is the best in China, and the redemption of Norwegian teenagers
On August 27, the men's marathon began early in the morning on the last race day of the World Championships in Athletics in Budapest.
Of the 94 applicants, the number of Sub-2:04-2:08 was 2, 10, 19, 27 and 37. Ethiopia's defending champion Tamirat Tola and Kenya's Timothy Kiplagat both had sub-2:04 results: Tora won Amsterdam in 2021 with 2:03:39, which can be ranked 20th all-time; Kiplagat finished second in Rotterdam this year with a 2:03:50 finish, a result that can currently rank in the top three in the world of the year.
But neither traditional East African powerhouse could stand back in the footsteps of the rising Ugandans at the third pole of long-distance running in East Africa: Victor Kiplangat gradually took the lead after 30km and eventually won the men's marathon at the 19th World Championships in 2:08:53.
The name may be a little unfamiliar, but Kiplangat has a famous cousin: Jacob Kiplimo, the half-horse world record holder in Budapest who missed Budapest due to a hamstring injury.
In the first 30 minutes after the shots were fired, the game was unexpected. Ser-Od Bat-Ochir, 41, of Mongolia, "old man talking about teenagers", took the lead in the 5km at 14:59, 35 seconds ahead of the large group of defending champions Tora and others.
This kind of solo walking at the start is not uncommon on a marathon track. In recent years alone, there are Brazilian Internet celebrity Daniel do Nascimento in New York last year and American Cj Albertson of the Boston Marathon the year before; On the stage of the World Championships, there is also Derlys Ayala, a Paraguayan player from Doha 2019...
Such "top-up" behavior was truly impressive, and Bad Ohill performed particularly in Budapest, where the Mongolian wore a Xtep 160X 3.0 Pro on his feet and won bronze in the women's race the day before.
Speaking of which, Bad Ohill is not a marathon runner without a story. Do you remember the runner who took off the paper clip on his bib number during the Tokyo Olympics marathon and pricked himself for refreshment? That's right, that's the Mongolian national record holder of 2:08:50.
Since 2003, Bad Ohill has never missed a marathon at any World Championships and Olympic Games, and this year marks his 16th consecutive World Series appearance and 11th consecutive World Championships.
Last year in Eugene, Butter Ohill finished 26th in 2:11:39, setting his fastest time in the World Series; His best World Series finish came at the 2011 World Championship in Daegu in 19th place.
Unfortunately, after being overtaken by large forces near 10 kilometers, Bad Ohill developed leg problems and withdrew from the race shortly after. It was his second withdrawal from the 16 World Series, following the equally impressive Tokyo Olympics.
But the performance of Chinese brands in Budapest did not come to an end. In addition to the Xtep-sponsored Eritrean team, Rwandan John Hakizimana, wearing a full Li-Ning equipment and pedaling the Flybolt 3 Ultra, briefly came to the lead after 15km and finished ninth in 2:10:50.
At the beginning of April, the 26-year-old Hagizimana set a Rwandan national record by finishing third in Milan with a 2:08:18 finish.
Before the match, the Ethiopian and Kenyan Seven, led by Tora and Kiplagat, was undoubtedly the favourites for the title. But over the long journey of 10 kilometers, this stereotype has been overturned several times.
As in the women's match the day before, defending champion Tora's Ethiopian quartet and their Kenyan neighbours are indeed in the leading group, and it's no surprise that this huge team is also represented by their Ugandan neighbours.
But in addition to Rwanda's Hagizimana, Italy, the Netherlands, Israel, France, Japan and other countries are also hidden in it — and another country with a flag code "LES" that many people don't recognize is Lesotho, a country surrounded by South Africa, where Tebello Ramakongoana will finish fourth in the race with a personal best of 2:09:57, just 10 seconds from the country's national record.
After 30 kilometers, the First Group gradually shrank to more than 10 men, but it was still a multinational force situation. Kiplangart and defending champion Tora and his compatriot Leul Gebresillassie, who finished runner-up in London last year, gradually emerged to take the lead.
But after 33km, defending champion Tora gradually fell behind, and he was then pinched and withdrawn from the race by former Israeli national record holder Maru Teferi; Teferi will also beat Gebrecillase before the finish line to win the silver medal at the World Championships in 2:09:12 – the top three in this race, Kiplangat, Teferi and Gebrecillasse, are all from the famous NN Running Team.
Kiplangat, on the other hand, is becoming a giant after 35 kilometers. At 2:08:53, he won Uganda's second World Championships men's marathon gold: Stephen Kiprotich brought Uganda's first World Marathon gold medal in Moscow 10 years ago, and he was also the marathon champion at London 2012.
Another Ugandan athlete, Stephen Kissa — the one who twice broke early in the 10,000m at the Tokyo Olympics and the Eugene World Championships, and blew himself up to clear the way for world record holder Joshua Cheptegei — accidentally fell in the second half of the race and finished fifth in 2:10:22.
In April last year, Kissa challenged the first horse in Hamburg and finished second in 2:04:48; Kiplangat finished fourth in that match with 2:05:09, and both surpassed the previous Ugandan national record of 2:05:12 and are still in the top two places in the country's history.
Coupled with half-horse world record holder Kiprimo, Cheptegai, who is determined to take the half-horse and all-Malaysia world records, and the new generation of athletes they are trying to develop, it is not for nothing that Uganda will become the third pole in East Africa with Kenya and Ethiopia.
The Japanese team sent Ichitaka Yamashita, Kenya Sonota and Kazuya Nishiyama. Yamashita and Kida became the third and fourth people in Japanese history in March in Tokyo at 2:05:51 and 2:05:59, respectively; Nishiyama won the title in Osaka at the end of February 2:06:45, setting a record for the Japanese men's all-Malaysia debut and could be tied for ninth place in Japan's history.
The best results of the year of the three can be ranked 12th, 13th and 17th among all the applicants; Individual bests can be ranked 18th, 19th and 25th – three which, in theory, could have earned a place in the first group of more than 20 people at one time.
But it really only has a place. Only Yamashita led the way when the first group was reduced to more than 10 people, and rose to fifth position at 40 km. But with leg cramps in the last 2 km, he finished 12th in 2:11:19.
Kenya Keida was in 35th place at 2:16:40 and Kazuya Nishiyama was in 42nd place at 2:17:41. Whether it is Keida, who qualified for the World Championships as the 106th Japan Championship with his consistent performance since last year (Tokyo 2:07:23, Berlin Marathon 2:07:14), or Nishiyama, who won the Hakone 1st Zone award for two consecutive years in his freshman and sophomore years, such results may be difficult to say satisfactory.
Of course, the high temperatures in Budapest at the end of August and the nature of the tournament will have an impact on the results. At 7:00 local time, the race starts at 24°C and 70% humidity; But by around 28 kilometers, temperatures had soared to 32°C.
The impact of the weather is also reflected in the Chinese players.
The personal bests of the Chinese team trio He Jie, Yang Shaohui and Feng Peiyou all came at the Wuxi Marathon in March: He Jie and Yang Shaohui surpassed the 15-year-old national record of 2:08:15 with 2:07:30 and 2:07:49 respectively; Feng finished third in China with a time of 2:09:21, which can be ranked seventh in China's history and once made him the youngest Sub-2:10 player in the world.
Of all 94 runners on the list, three ranked 35th, 37th and 48th in their personal bests; The best results of the season were 23rd, 24th and 33rd.
In the race, He Jie was at the top of the three Chinese runners, but was overtaken by Yang Shaohui in the fourth 5km; Yang Shaohui surpassed Japan's Kazuya Nishiyama in subsequent competitions.
In the end, Yang Shaohui, who participated in the World Championships for the third time in a row and is known for his high temperature resistance, finished 38th in 2:17:12; He Jie and Feng, who made their debut for the national team in the World Series, were ranked 45th and 49th in 2:19:48 and 2:22:00 respectively.
This is the third time that the 31-year-old Yang Shaohui has become the best Chinese athlete in four world championships, following the Doha World Championships (20th) and the Tokyo Olympics (19th). Next, He Jie and Yang Shaohui will also face the competition task of the Hangzhou Asian Games, and Feng will also be on standby as a substitute.
The 2023 World Championships in Budapest are not surprising for the men's and women's 5,000m winners: Jakob Ingebrigtsen, who won last year's title in Eugene, successfully defended the men's title, while this year's world record winner Faith Kipyegon won the women's race to achieve a double title.
Four days ago, young Tokyo Olympic champion Jacob Ingbrigsen capsized in the 1500m final of the World Championships for the second year in a row, losing to another British opponent, Josh Kerr, in a situation very similar to last year.
For a while, the news that he was criticized by his brother for celebrating in advance in the semifinals was also amplified again. The next day, Ingbriggsen made his 5,000m debut of the season 13:36.21 and qualified for the final in third place in his group.
Is it to fight back with a defensive title? Or is the failure to defend the title more subject to stronger skepticism?
The 22-year-old Ingbrigisson gave the answer on the final day of the World Championships in Budapest: in the final straight stage, he emerged from the crowd and beat the new European record holder who launched the attack, Mohamed Katir of Spain, to win the 5,000m twice in a row at the World Championships in 13:11.30, who finished second by 0.14 seconds.
Lose in hake, but gain in herring.
Kenya's Jacob Krop, who finished runner-up in Eugene last year, won a bronze medal at 13:12.28, while Guatemala's Luis Grijalva finished fourth in two consecutive World Championships.
Yomif Kejelcha, Hagos Gebrhiwet and Berihu Aregawi, three Ethiopians who all finished in the Sub-12:45 class this season and ranked in the top 10 of all time, ranked 5th, 6th and 8th, and Mohammed Ahmed, runner-up at the Tokyo Olympics and Canadian national record holder Ranked seventh.
Ingbrigson thus became only the fourth runner to win the men's 5,000m twice at the World Championships, following Kenya's Ismael Kirui in 1993 and 1995, British legend Mo Farah, a three-time winner from 2011 to 2015, and Ethiopia's Muktar Edris in 2017 and 2019.
No runner in the 1500m has ever won the 5000m at the World Championships, and of course, no runner who has won the 5000m twice has lost in the same way twice.
This may be the exclusive history of Inge Brigson that belongs only to this age group.
Inge Brigson missed out on becoming only the second athlete in history to win the men's 1500m and 5000m doubles at a single World Championship for the second year in a row. Previously, only Bernard Lagat of the United States had achieved this feat in Osaka in 2007.
But the day before, Kipuyegon, who won three world records this year, unlocked the achievement in the women's race: she won the 5000m final in 14:53.88, becoming the first woman in history to win both the 1500m and 5000m events, and of course the only woman to win the women's 1500m and 5000m doubles at a single World Championships.
Sifan Hassan, who lost her medal in the 10,000m by falling before finishing on the first race day and then won bronze in the 1,500m, finished second in 14:54.11, her first silver medal at the World Championships.
She previously won two gold medals (Doha 2019 – 1,500m/10,000m) and three bronzes (Beijing 2015/Budapest 2023 – 1,500m and London 2017) at the World Championships, plus two gold medals and one bronze at the Tokyo Olympics, as well as the European half-horse record and the ST London Marathon title.
At least before Kipuyegun challenged the 10,000-meter and road run, Hassan was the planet's well-deserved all-around queen of women's middle and distance running.
Nozomi Tanaka, who ran 14:37.98 in the heats and improved the Japanese national record by nearly 15 seconds, finished eighth in the final at 14:58.99, her second World Series top eight, after finishing eighth in the 1500m at the Tokyo Olympics.
This is the second time in 16 years that a Japanese woman has finished in the top eight in the 5,000m at the World Championships: in 1997, Harumi Hiroyama finished eighth in this event at the World Championships in Athens.